


A Waste of Time

by names_are_a_mystery_to_me



Category: DCU, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: M/M, No editing we die like mne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:40:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23585500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/names_are_a_mystery_to_me/pseuds/names_are_a_mystery_to_me
Summary: Jason and Roy go undercover to a fancy party, and when the mission fails, Roy tries to convince Jason that the evening wasn't all wasted.
Relationships: Roy Harper/Jason Todd
Kudos: 84





	A Waste of Time

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be the first to admit that I have not made the fullest use of this idea, but hey! Any fic is better than no fic at all, and I trust that your (the reader's) imagination will fill in the gaps where my description is lacking. Thanks for reading! <3

“Look, I’m just saying, this isn’t remotely necessary,” Roy complained, as the tailor took a handful of pins to his suit jacket.

“It is if you want to look good,” Jason replied, not looking up from his phone. He’d been texting non-stop, either confirming details of their upcoming op or complaining to someone about Roy complaining. When Roy grumbled, he sighed and put his phone down, looking Roy directly in the eyes. “Look, I’m not walking into this party with someone who looks like a lost redneck. We’re going to blend in, and for that, you need a suit that fits.”

“It fit before,” Roy argued, as the tailor confirmed all her pin-and-chalk work on the jacket and dress shirt. She nodded, then left the small dressing room so Roy could get back into his regular clothes.

“No.” Jason shook his head. “It fit, sure, but it didn’t fit. Tailoring is an important part of looking good in a suit. Trust me on this one.”

Roy got back into his regular clothes, then they left, leaving both his suit and Jason’s to be picked up later, once they’d been altered. Retracing their steps back to where they’d parked, he shook his head. “Ollie never gave this much of a shit about clothes,” he muttered.

Jason laughed. “No, and Bruce judges the hell out of him for it.” It felt weird how not weird it felt to bring up their mentors in casual conversation. It wasn’t like they were on good -or even speaking- terms with either of them, but they were moving on.

Just because they were moving on, didn’t mean they hadn’t triple-checked the guest list for their upcoming mission, making sure it was clear of any names they recognized, or who would recognize them. The last thing they needed was interference.

*****

Roy sipped his water and tried to look relaxed, leaning against a wall in one corner of the ballroom. The host was holding a private auction for a number of niche items, and he wanted to make sure everyone was good and enjoying themselves before the bidding started. Roy waved off another waiter offering him something in a glass with a stem, and internally deflected the thought that alcohol would make him a lot more at ease with the whole situation.

He wasn’t as nervous as he might have been, though. Jason had been right, of course, about the suit. Cleaned up and with his hair in a neat bun, he actually maybe looked like he belonged. Now he just had to act like it.

Acting didn’t seem to be a problem for Jason. Roy watched his partner make his way around the room, putting on a social butterfly act that would have made Dick proud. Jason talked and laughed, and for all appearances looked like he was just as drunk as the other guests, even though he’d been nursing the same drink all evening. And, Roy would gladly admit, he looked damn good in a suit, and now he got what Jason had meant about a suit really fitting.

Roy watched as a woman wearing a low-cut red dress laughed at one of Jason’s jokes, putting a hand on his arm to steady herself. His eyes narrowed as the woman left her hand there, gently stroking Jason’s forearm as she looked him in the eyes. No. He wasn’t going to let that go on uncontested. Whether or not she knew it, Jason was his, and she needed to back off.

Approaching them and sliding an arm around Jason’s waist, he put on what he hoped was a winning smile. “Honey, why don’t you introduce me to your friend?” he asked, looking up at Jason. Nope, that was definitely a grimace he was making.

The woman took her hand off Jason’s arm and stepped back, sipping her drink as she began to turn a delicate shade of red. “Louisa, this is my partner, Steve. Babe, meet Louisa Greenbriar, daughter of the host.” Tonight, they were Adam and Steve Walker, Roy’s choice of names even though Jason had rolled his eyes at them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Roy said stiffly. Jason made some parting remarks, then put his arm around Roy and guided them away from that conversation.

“Thanks for the out,” Jason whispered, giving him a gentle squeeze. “She wasn’t giving me any polite way to turn her down. He sighed, and downed the rest of his well-warmed drink. “Fuck, this sort of thing wears me out,” he muttered.

They meandered about the room in companionable silence, listening to the conversations flow around them. Roy was mostly bored now, and helped the time pass by imagining Jason in compromising situations, but he was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts when he saw a person across the room who had not been there earlier. Chatting with Louisa Greenbriar, and blending in even better than Jason had managed, was Dick Grayson.

“Jay-” Roy started.

“I know,” Jason cut him off quietly. “Act normal.” So they continued their circuit about the room, stopping to chat every now and then, until they met up with Dick behind the meager cover provided by a small potted tree.

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Jason said, trying and failing to hide the edge in his voice. “I’m Adam Walker, this is my husband Steve.”

“Dick Grayson, obviously,” Dick responded, shaking Jason’s hand with a smile that vanished as soon as he had Jason’s hand trapped in his own. “What the hell are you two doing here?” he hissed. “What are you planning?”

“Same as you, I’d imagine,” Jason responded evenly. “Here to bid on a few items of interest.” There was a sizable chunk of kryptonite among the other auction pieces, but that was the only one that really interested them.

“I don’t suppose I can persuade either of you to go home early?” Dick asked, and they both shook their heads. Some other partygoers passed by, and they faked the last few lines of a normal conversation before splitting away from Dick and through the crowd, before escaping into a hallway.

“Change of plans, we move before the auction,” Jason whispered, like it wasn’t obvious. They had originally intended to steal the kryptonite from whoever won it, reasoning that the Greenbriars would ease up on the security once they were paid and the items were no longer their problem. But if Dick managed to go home with it, they’d have to fight the whole bat-clan or give up, neither of which were options.

Roy sighed. It was going to be a long night.

*****

Back at their hotel room -not booked using the same identities they’d used at the party- Jason slammed the door behind him and threw his shoes into the closet with a disproportionate amount of force. He was steaming, and he had good reason- out of their element and unable to resort to force for fear of alerting security and the bats, they’d been unable to get to their goal before the auction had started. They couldn’t act once the kryptonite was on the auction floor, and then Dick had ruthlessly outbid everyone and promptly vanished from the premises with it.

“What a waste of time,” Jason growled.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Roy offered, and Jason turned to stare at him.

“I thought you didn’t want to do it that way, or at all.”

“I mean, yeah,” Roy shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. “But it wasn’t all bad. I learned some stuff.” Jason made a 'what?' gesture and Roy grinned. “I learned you look hot in a suit.”

Jason rolled his eyes, but in the street lights shining through their window, there was a slight flush moving up his cheeks. Roy stepped in closer and kissed him, grabbing Jason’s tie to pull his head down to kissing level. When they separated, Roy leaned forward to whisper in Jason’s ear. “You know what you look better in, though? Nothing.”

Jason sighed, and although he was smiling slightly, he looked tired. “Roy, you’re great, but I’m still angry. I don’t- I don’t bounce back from failure like you do.”

“Why don’t you channel that anger into something more productive?” Roy asked. “I can suggest a few things.”

“I know what you’re suggesting,” Jason replied. “I’m not opposed to the idea, but it won’t exactly be gentle.”

“Doesn’t have to be. Not when it’s you.”

Jason took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright,” he said, and Roy resisted the urge to go 'yes!' “At least then something worthwhile will have happened tonight.”


End file.
